Nonstop flight route between Sofia, Bulgaria and Itami (near Osaka), Japan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF), Sofia, Bulgaria and Osaka International Airport (ITM), Itami (near Osaka), Japan would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,581 miles (or 8,981 kilometers).

A Great Circle is the shortest distance between 2 points on a sphere. Because most world maps are flat (but the Earth is round), the route of the shortest distance between 2 points on the Earth will often appear curved when viewed on a flat map, especially for long distances. If you were to simply draw a straight line on a flat map and measure a very long distance, it would likely be much further than if you were to lay a string between those two points on a globe. Because of the large distance between Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna and Osaka International Airport, the route shown on this map most likely appears curved because of this reason.

Try it at home! Get a globe and tightly lay a string between Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna and Osaka International Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF):

• In mid-2012 the airport will have one of the most modern and most beautiful airport towers in Europe.
• Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna handled 350,432 passengers last year.
• The new tower is an extremely important facility for both ATC and the airport because it is related to the safety and security of flights, explained by the transport department.
• The closest airport to Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) is Plovdiv Airport (PDV), which is located 86 miles (138 kilometers) ESE of SOF.
• The new tower was officially opened on 7 December 2012.
• Two de-icing platforms are constructed to allow centralised de-icing procedures in winter.
• In addition to being known as "Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna", other names for SOF include "Vrazhdebna Airport" and "Летище София".
• The furthest airport from Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,437 miles (18,405 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Options for different airport developments began to be examined in the mid-1960s.
• The new Sofia tower will be situated to the west of Terminal 2 and will be complementing the terminal building in architectural terms.
• Sofia Airport Vrazhdebna (SOF) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Osaka International Airport (ITM):

• In its heyday Itami was served by a variety of major international carriers, including Pan Am, British Airways, Air India, Cathay Pacific and Korean Air.
• There have been various plans and studies to improve rail access to the airport, including spurs from the JR Takarazuka Line and Hankyu Takarazuka Line, an extension of the Osaka Monorail to central Itami and a separate light rail connection between the airport and central Itami, but none of these studies have been implemented due to financial considerations as well as limited capacity on the existing rail lines to the area.
• Osaka International Airport (ITM) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Osaka International Airport (ITM) is Osaka International Airport (OSA), which is located only 0 mile (0 kilometer) N of ITM.
• There were originally plans to close Itami Airport following the opening of Kansai, but nearby communities opposed such a move for economic reasons, so Itami was retained as a domestic-only airport after Kansai opened in 1994.
• The policy of the Japanese government has been to limit operations at Itami in order to spur development at Kansai and Kobe.
• The furthest airport from Osaka International Airport (ITM) is Rio Grande Regional Airport (RIG), which is located 11,960 miles (19,248 kilometers) away in Rio Grande, Brazil.
• Because of Osaka International Airport's relatively low elevation of 39 feet, planes can take off or land at Osaka International Airport at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.
• In addition to being known as "Osaka International Airport", other names for ITM include "Itami International Airport", "大阪国際空港" and "Ōsaka Kokusai Kūkō".
• In September 2013, NKIAC announced that it would acquire Osaka Airport Terminal Co.